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Cbe ©lb Constitutions 


of jfveemasonv\> 


BEING A REPRINT 


o/ //»e 


Earliest Printed Edition, now in the Library of the Grand 
Lodge of Iowa, which was Published by 

J. ROBERTS in 1722 


TOGETHER WITH A 

FOREWORD 

by JOSEPH FORT NEWTON 


Printed 1917 for and Published by 
THE NATIONAL MASONIC RESEARCH SOCIETY 
Anamosa, Iowa 


LIMITED EDITION 









Copyright, 1917 

BY 

The National Masonic Research Society 
Anamosa, Iowa 


/ 

FEB 12 1917 


©CIA457205 



L 


r 


This Edition is limited to 
ONE THOUSAND COPIES 

of which this is 


Number. 


188 




JOSEPH FORT NEWTON 
















jfcrewovb 



T &HE Old Charges or Constitutions of Free- 
& masonry are the title deeds of the Frater¬ 
nity, and as such they should be carefully 
studied by every Craftsman—just as a 
man ought to take due care to know the 
title of his home and holdings. It is therefore that the 
Society issues herewith a photographic reproduction of 
a document as unique as it is interesting, in the hope 
of reviving and promoting a study of the Old Charges 
among American Masons, and especially among the 
young men now entering our ancient fellowship. 

When Hughan and Woodford began their re¬ 
searches into the Constitutions of the Operative Ma¬ 
sons, about 1866, hardly more than a score of such doc¬ 
uments had then been recovered and traced. 1 By the 
time Hughan published his “Old Charges of British 
Freemasons,” in 1869, which was the first collection in 
print of the kind, several more which had been discov¬ 
ered were duly noted or reproduced in that volume. 
When the second edition of his volume appeared in 





FORE WORD 


1895, he had access to Sixty-six rolls of the Old 
Charges, and nine printed versions, besides eleven oth¬ 
ers known to have existed which he reckoned as “Miss¬ 
ing MSS.” 2 Of these the oldest known was written 
about the latter part of the 14th century, followed by 
another in the early 15th, then another in the 16th, 
thirty-nine in the 17th, and twenty-one in the 18th, 
besides a few in the 19th century. Some of these, to 
be sure, are duplicates, and others are simply slight 
variations of extant originals, but a number are inde¬ 
pendent versions of not a little value. 

Whether in Ms, or printed copies only, they have 
now all been named and arranged in classes, or families, 
according to their dates and importance; and these 
again have been subdivided into branches, the better to 
compare their different readings and to estimate their 
value both individually and generally. 3 The researches 
of Begemann in this field were not only memorable but 
astonishing, all the more so because, as a German, he so 
thoroughly mastered the language in which the Old 
Charges were written as to be able, more than once, to 
locate and give date to a document by its peculiar ac¬ 
cent and dialect. Surely, few feats of scholarship in 
the annals of the Fraternity can surpass such an 
achievement, for which every Masonic student should 
be deeply grateful. 



FORE WORD 


The Old Charges were, in fact, a part of the ritual 
of Operative Masonry, being read or recited to the 
initiate upon his advent into the Order, to which, with 
whatever other secret sign or teaching was communi¬ 
cated, he subscribed in an obligation. The obligation, 
as will be seen in the following pages, was very simple, 
consisting of only two or three sentences—sometimes 
of only one sentence—followed by none of the elaborate 
penalties afterwards imposed when the Craft passed 
out of its operative period. Evidently, our ancient 
Brethren relied upon the greater moral penalties which 
affect and influence the human soul: namely, the terror 
of being forsworn and scorned as a dishonored man and 
Mason, the horrors of an outraged conscience, and the 
just and awful anger of the infinite Deity whose pres¬ 
ence was invoked as a witness on the “holy contents of 
this Book.” 

As all authorities agree, the tiny, faded, time- 
stained booklet which we herewith present, is the oldest 
Masonic book, the earliest printed copy of the Constitu¬ 
tions of the operative Freemasons. Hughan holds it to 
be such, with which Woodford agrees when he says, 
“Until some reliable evidence can be produced of their 
actual publication, we must be content to accept Rob¬ 
ert’s Edition of 1722 as the first printed issue of the 
Constitutions.” 4 The only possible exception are the 



FORE WORD 


excerpts from the ‘'William Watson MS” printed by Dr. 
Robert Plot, author of “The Natural History of Staf¬ 
fordshire,” in 1686.'' Speaking of this little booklet, 
Brother Spencer, who originally owned it, remarked in 
1871, 6 that, as far as he could ascertain, it is unique: 
“It came into my possession about a quarter of a cen¬ 
tury ago, bound up at the end of a scarce 1723 edition 
of the Constitutions; and from that time I have been 
searching for another unsuccessfully. On making in¬ 
quiry I learn that the work is unknown at the British 
Museum, the Bodleian, and other public Libraries.” 
Iiughan adds, 7 “At the sale of his (Spencer’s) Masonic 
Library in 1875, it was purchased by me for the late 
Mr. Bower, of Keokuk, Iowa. This pamphlet is now in 
the Library of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, being one of 
the most valuable books of the celebrated ‘Bower Col¬ 
lection.’ ” 

Printed one year before the Constitutions of the 
Grand Lodge of England, and being, as Hughan holds, 
an “exclusively operative” document, it stands at the 
parting of the ways between Operative and Speculative 
Masonry. One has only to read it alongside the Con¬ 
stitutions of 1723, to see how profound and far-reach¬ 
ing the transformation from the old Masonry to the 
new really was. 8 Of its contents Hughan writes: 



FORK WORD 


“The text leans more to the Grand Lodge MS, No. 2, than 
to the Harleian No. 1942, though substantially it represents both 
documents. Robert’s Charges run I to XXVI, then follow (a) 
the brief and long ‘obligations/ (b) ‘This Charge belongeth to 
Apprentices’ (I to X), and (c) the ‘Additional Orders’ (I to VII), 
(d) concluding with a repetition of the longer Obligation. The 
word omitted in Rule XXIII, apparently because the Editor failed 
to read it, is supplied in the two MSS, named, as ‘erred.’ 

The ‘Additional Orders and Constitutions’ are declared to 
have been ‘made and agreed upon at a General Assembly held at 

- on the Eighth Day of December, 1663’; but evidently 

this guess was not explicit enough for Dr. Anderson, as he states 
in ‘Constitutions’ 1738, that the Earl of St. Albans’ held a Gen¬ 
eral Assembly and Feast on St. John’s Day, 27th Dec., 1663, 
when these regulations were made. One romance is as good or 
worthless as the other; and like the claim of Roberts, that the 
MS he copied from, was then about 500 years old, is only quoted 
not to show how Masonic ‘History’ was written at that period.” 9 

Why it was published at all has led to some inter¬ 
esting speculations, one of which, by Albert Pike, being 
to the effect that “English Masonry, in 1717, and after¬ 
wards to 1745, had for one of its purposes, at least, if 
not the chief one, to sustain the Act of Parliament set¬ 
tling the succession and excluding the Stuarts and all 
Papists; and that by the Chiefs of the Order, at least, 
it was enlisted in the support of the House of Han¬ 
over.” 10 Whether this was so or not we need not stop 
to argue, but it adds interest to the little booklet which 
Pike surmises is so scarce because it was suppressed; 
and it may well provoke a desire to study anew the era 




FORE WORD 


in which it appeared. What influence, if any, it had on 
the ritual mongers of the time, by whom Gould thinks 
it was carefully studied, 11 is another question into 
which it may repay us to inquire. Interesting in itself, 
valuable as a sign of the times in which it was printed, 
and fruitful of problems worthy of study, the Society 
sends it forth in the hope that it will provoke further 
research and bring more truth to light. 

1 01d Charges of British Freemasons, by W. J. Hughan, 2nd 
Edition. 

2 Ibid. 

’Transactions Quatuor Coronati Lodge, Vol. 1; also Quatuor 
Coronatorum Antigrapha. 

4 01d Charges, by Hughan, preface 1872 edition. 

•’History of Masonry, by Gould, Chapter VII; also Early 
Printed Literature Referring to Freemasonry, by H. J. Whymper. 

6 01d Constitutions, by Spencer, p. XXII. 

7 Hughan, p. 122. 

Constitutions, by Anderson. 

°Hughan, p. 122. 

10 Official Bulletin Supreme Council Southern Jurisdiction, Vol. 

• 1, pp. 491, 632. 

^Collected Essays, p. 246. 


J. F. N. 



Old Conftitutions 

Belonging* to the 4 - 

Ancient ^Honourable 

SOCIETY 

OF . I-'?* ' 

Free and Accepted 

MASONS. 

Taken from a Manufcript 'wrote above Tit e 
Hundred Tears Jince. 

LONDON: 

■ ■ * ; - 

Printed, and Sold by J. Roberts, in 
Wdrwifk-JLane, dMDCCjtftll. 

; J Price Six-Pence.) 

















. 






















































* 












■ 





















































the 

PREFACE 


B F any Thing could have efcaped 
the Cenfures of this litigious 
dge; if the fnoft innocedt inojfen*- 
five Set<f Men intheWorldcould 
he free from Satyr and Sarcafm, 
one would have thought the Ancient and 
Noble Society of Free-MafonS Jhdald have 
been the Men. What have they not to 
recommend them to the Worlds and gain 
the Favour and ‘ProteUion of wife and ho* 
nejl Men? 

As their Art is the moft Ancient , fo 
their Trojeffion of it is mofl Honourable. 
The Neceffity the World was jarly in of 
the ‘Profeffion of a Mafon, proves their 
A 2. UJ'c- 












The PREFACE. 


Ufeftilnefs-, for I believe it mil not be 
doubted ., that Men had Hpufes before they 
had deaths, as they had 'Jltars before 
they had d’emplcs. Cain built a City, 
and Abel, m doubt , built an Jltar y 
when he offered his Sacrifice to the 
LORD. 



W HU S life fit f and thus ancient ? it 
cannot be wondered if the World honour d 
thent with all the Wokens of RefpeU , 
which in thofe "Days they were capable of 
/ind perhaps more than we have yet an 
JccciBtt of 

* WH1ME Honourf and this RefpcU, 
it cannot be doubted brought Men of Ifa- 
lue among themwho thought it not be- 
low them to wear the Radge of the So¬ 
ciety\ and to acknowledge themfelves to 
be Favourers of their Greatnefs 5 as they 
were Lovers of Art. 

UNDER the ProteUicn of fitch Per¬ 
forms of honour and Inter eft 3 it is not to 
be exprejsd what mighty Fabrjcks they . 
have ereUed\ what glorious Ruildings 
they have rais'd\ from the Wemple of So¬ 
lomon 





m 


The PREFACE.’ 

r 

lomon to the magnificent Tile of St. Pc- 
ter s at Rome. 


HOW this Society has beyn prefer eld ; 
How regularly they have aUcd; on what , 
wholefome flawsybey- have been founded^, 
and how carefully they have obfervd and * 
regarded thofe Laws , as the juft Ce¬ 
ment of the Society that is partly to be 
feen in this frail^ and it will (peak for 
itfelf. 

NOR is their Value leffedd or Sa¬ 
ted at all by the Duft and Scandal rais d 
by any Men againf them 3 or by the Free¬ 
dom they leave- taken to banter and rally . 
them . ‘The Dirt thrown at them fly es 
back on thofe that cafi ity and the Ho¬ 
nour of the Society of F rce-Mafons re¬ 
mains entire . So that none of the Per¬ 
forms of Honour who 'have lately grac'd the 
Society with their Preface, have yet feen 
any Reafon to bcafhamd of them , or to 
withdraw their PyoteUionfrom them ♦ 


MUCH more might be f'aid\ to their 
Honour 5 but the following Piece of Any 
tiquity is sufficient 3 and will give every 
Reader an Juthentick Account cf them * 

It 











The PREFACE; 




■ft- has.yet feeh the World bzti in *mg- 1 
merits? but is now put together as a 
Thing of . too much Sigmfcancy i0 M s 
mr Qbfervatiw , and watch wih Jhw 
ally vindicate the. Jncient Society of Free- 
Mafons from ail thaP has or cm be jata 
againfi them. 






O F 

Free Mafons-, &c. 

Sllntfflljtp M' 
ttytt of i^caiicn, 
tfjeSKiiftsoni 
of rt)e d&foitoug 
&on, tf)?o’ tlic 
©ooDncfs of tS}c 
^oU>d5t!Oft,d)?ec 
a iktfons itt one 

<!5oi)&e&D, be tbitl) our aSegmnunj, 
l a aiib 

f ' 

\ ' V 



•W" 




















(O’ 

ana gfoe us i)is C^ace lo to goaern I 
our jiibes, tljat ae map com? so 
Ins sills, ttjai neoer Ojail t)aac cna. 

Amen. 

G OOD Brethren and Fellows, our 
Purpofc is to tell you how, and in 
what manner the Craft of 'Mcifouiy was 
begun, and afterwards liow it was found- 

ed by worthy Kings and Princes, and o- i 
ther wife Men, "hurtful to none, and 1 

alfo to them that be true, we will declare 
doth belong to every Free Mat on to § 

keep firm good Faith, it you take Heed 5 
thereunto it is well worthy to be kept, 
which is contain’d in the Seven Liberal 
Sciences as follows, viz. 

ITUprimis^ It $ (i f cityi^yi nr that teaches a 
Man to fpeak truly, and write truly. 

II. It’s • Rhei crick that teaches a Man .to , 
fpeak fair, and mfubtie Terms. 

XU. It’s Logick that teaches a Man to 
difeern Truth from Falfhood. 


IV. It’s Arithmetic'll that teaches a Man 
to Accompt, and reckon ail manner of 
Numbers. 

V. It’s Geometry that teaches Mett and 
Meafure of any Thing,..and from thence 
Cometh Mdfonry . 

VI. .It’s Mufick that tcachcth Song and 
V oice. 

VII. It’s JJircncmy which tcachcth to 
know the Courfe of the Sun, Moon, 
and other Ornaments of Heaven. # 

Note, I pray you, That thefe Seven 
are contain’d under Geometry, fpr it icaco- 
eth Mett and Meafure, Pondcration and 
Weight for every Thing in and upon the 
whole Earth lor you to know ; that e- 
very Craftfman works by Meafure ; He 
or She that buys or fells, is by Weight or 
Meafure, Husbandmen, Navigators, Plan¬ 
ters, and all of them, ufe • Geometry ; 
for neither Grammar, Rbctcrick, Logic k, 
nor any other of the faid Sciences can 1.uo~ 
lift without Geometry , ergo , nioft worthy 
and honourable. 


V 


( 4 ) 

You ask me how this Science was in¬ 
vented ; my Anfwer is this. That: before 
the General Deluge, which is commonly 
called No airs Flood, there was a Man 
called Lantech^ as you may read in the* 
Fourth Chapter of Qenefis , who had two 
Wives, the one called Jda, the other 
Zill'ct , by Ada he" begat two Sons, Jabal 
and Jnhai ; by Zilla h5 had one Son 
called ‘Tubal) and a Daughter called 
Naamah. Thefe four Children found 
the beginning of ail Crafts in the World : 
Jabal found out Geometry, and he divided 
Flocks of Sheep, and Lands; he fil'd' built 


a Houle of Stone and Timber. Jubal 
found out Mnfick i l.’nhal found out the 
Smith's Trade or Craft, ftlfo bf Gold, Sil¬ 
ver, Copper,. Don and Steel ; Naamah 
found out the Craft of Weaving. And 
thefe Children knew that GOD would 


take Vengeance for Sins, cither by Fire 
or Water, wherefore they did write thefe 
Sciences, that they had found, on two 
Pillars of Stone, that they might be 
found alter that GOD had taken Ven¬ 
geance 5 the one was Marble, that would 
not burn, the other was Litprejs , that 
would not drown in Water ; ft that the 
one would be preserved,, and not con- 
. fumed, if GOD would any People fliouid 
' ' ’ live 


( 5 ) 

live upon the Barth. It refteth now to 
tell. you how thefe Stones were found, 
whereon the laid Sciences were written, 
after the faid Deluge: It fo pleafed God 
Almighty, that the Great Hermarmes, 
whofe Son Jennie was, who was the Son 
of faj who was the Son of Noah. The. 
faid Hermarmes was afterwards called 
Hermes , the Father of Lunic , he found 
one of the two Pillars of Stone. He 
found thefe Sciences written thereon, and 
taught them to other Men. And at the 
Tower of Babylon., Mafortry was much 
made on ; for the King of ‘Babylon , who 
was Nemorth , was a Mafon , and ferv’d 
the Science; and when the City of Ni- 
nevah, and other Cities of the Baft, 
fliould be built, Nemorth fent thither 
.Threefcore Mafons, at the Delire of the 
! King of Nhievah $ and when they went 
forth, he gave them a Charge after this 
manner. That they lltould be true one to 
another, and love one another, ■ that he 
might have Worlhip by them in fending 
them to his Cozen the King. He alfo 
gave them Charge concerning their Sci¬ 
ence i and then it was the firft time that 
any Mafon had Charge of his Work. Al¬ 
fa Abraham, and Sarah his Wife, went 
Into Msyptj and taught the Egyptians the 

Seven 



(' 6 ) 

Seven Liberal: Sciences ; and he had an 
ingenious SchoLiar called Ettclydes^ whd 
perfectly learned the faid Literal Sciences. 

It happen’d Jin his Days, the Lords and 
States of the Realm had fo many Sons un¬ 
lawfully, begotten, by other Mens Wives* 
that the Land was Burthen’d with them, 
having fmail Means to maintain thuni 
withal 5 the King underftanding.thereof, 
caufed a Parliament to be called or fum- 
moned for Redrefs, but being fo Num-r 
berlefs that no Good could be done with 
them, he caufed Proclamation to be made 
through' the; Realm, that if any Man 
could devife any Courfe how to main¬ 
tain them, to inform the King, and he 
fbculd be well rewarded 5 whereupon 
Eudydes came . to the King, and laid 
thus, My. noble Sovereign,;if I may have 
nhe Order. of Government of thofe’Lords. 
Sons, I will teach them the Seven Libe¬ 
ral Sciences, whereby they may live ho- 
nefiiy like Gentlemen,- provided that you 
will 'grant , mo Power over them by vir¬ 
tue of your Dominion J which was imme~ 
diat^ly clfedlcd,. and there Eudydes gave 
them xheie Admonitions following ; • * 


IV/fobe true to their King. 



$ (?) . 

II. To be true, to the Maftcr they ferve^ 

..-V * to: \ t . 

III. To be true.,» and love one f. ano¬ 
ther. 

■ ■ : V;*. / , ; T S\ fh . if.; \ 

IV. Not to mifcall one another, &c. . 

V. To do their Work fo dhly, that they 
may deferve their Wages' at their Ma^ 

Hers Hands. : ’ r r\ 

VI. To ordain the wifeft of them Maftcr 

of the reft of the Work. , • 

VII. To have fuch rcafonable Wages, that 

the Workman may live honeftly, and 
with Credit. * 

VIII. To come and aftemble together in 
the Year, to take Council in their Graft 

how they may work belt to ferve their ' 

Lord and Maftcr, for his Profit, and 
their own Credit, and to correct fuch 
, as have offended. * '• , • ' , 

Note, That Mafonry was heretofore . '4 

term’d Geometry, and fithetice the Chil- 
; dren of Ifrael came to the Land of J 3e- 4 

theft, which is now called Emens, in the Si 




.( 8 ) 

Country of Jerufaletn, where they began 
a Temple, which is now called the Tem¬ 
ple of Jerusalem: And King 1 David 
loved Mafons well and cherifn’d them, 
for he gave them good Payment, and 
gave them a Charge, as Euclyde .r had 
given them before in Egypt, and further, 
as hereafter followeths and after the 
Deccafe, of King David, Solomon his 
Son finithed the Temple that his Father 
had began; he fent for Mafvns of divers 
Nations, to the Number of Four and 
Twenty Thoufand, of which Number 
Four Thoufand were elected and created 
Matters and Governors of the Work. Arid 
there was a King of another Region or 
Country, called Hiram, who loved well 
'King Solomon, and he gave hirn Timber 
for the Work; and he had a Son called 
,Atnon, and he j was Matter of Geometry, 
and he was chief Matter of' all his Mafons, 
of Carving-Work, and of all other-Work 
of Mafonry that belong’d to the Temple, 
as appears by the Bible in Lib . Regum 
Cap. 4.. And King Solomon confirmed all 
Things concerning Mafons , that David 
his Father had given in- Charge,* and 
then Mafons did travel divers Countries, 

' fome to augment their Knowledge in the- 
faid Art, and to inftrud others. 

•And 





(9) 

And it happen'd that a curious Mafon 
named Memongrecus , that had been at 
the building or Solomons Temple, came 
into France , and taught the Science of 
Mafonry to the Frenchmen ; and there 
was a King of France called Carolus 
Martel , who loved greatly Mafonry , who 
lent for thefaid Memongrecus^ and learn¬ 
ed of*faun the fold Sciences,, and became 
one of the Fraternity ; and thereupon 
began great Works, and liberally did pay 
his Workmen ; He confirm'd unto them 
■a large Charter, and was yearly prefent 
at their Aflembly, which was a great Ho¬ 
nour and Encouragement unto them j and 
thus came the Science into France . 

The Knowledge of Mafonry was un¬ 
known in England until St. Jlban : came 
thither, who mdru&ed the King in the 
laid Science of Mafonry , and alfo in Di¬ 
vinity, who was a Fagan: He walled- 
the Town now .called :St. Albany fie be¬ 
came in high Favour with the King, iji~ 
fomuch that he was Knighted, and made 
the King's Chief Steward, and the Realm 
was governed by him under the faid King* 
He greatly cherifhed and loved Mafonr % 
and truly paid them their Wages Weekly* 
which was 3 s . 6 do the "'Week. He alfo 
purchg&d for them a Charter - from the 
3 '.King 


( 10 ) 

King to hold a General Affembly and 
Council Yearly. He made many Mafons, 
and gave them fuch a Charge as is here¬ 
after declared. 

It happen’d prefently after the Martyr¬ 
dom ot St. Alban, who is truly term’d 
'England's Trotc-Martyr , that a certain 
King invaded the Land, and deftroy’d 
moft of the Natives by Fire and Sword, 
that the Science of Mafonry was much 
decay’d, until the Reign of Kmg Athel - 
Jion , which fome write Adleflon, wbp 
brought the Land to Peace and Reft, 
from the infulting Danes. He began to 
build many Abbics, Mon aft cries, and other 
Religious Houfes, as alfo Caftles and di¬ 
vers Fortreffes for Defence of his Realm. 
He loved Mafons more than his-Father * 
he greatly ftudy’d Geometry , and font into 
many Lands for Men expert in the Science. 
He 4 gave them a very large Charter, to 
hold a Yearly Affembly, and Power to 
corred Oftenders in the faid Science ; and 
the King himfelf caufed a General Af~ 
femby of all Mafons in his Realm, at 
TorK and there made many Mafons , 
and gave them a deep Charge for Obfer- 
yation of all fuch Articles as belonged 
unto Mafonry , and delivered them the 
faid Charter to keep; and when this Af~ 

. . fembly 



.(.II ) 

fembly was gathered together, he caufed 
a Cry to be m?de, that if any of them 
had any Writing that did concern Ma- 
fhirji or could inform the King of any 
'thing or Matter that was wanting in the 
faid Charge already delivQred, that they 
or he fhouid ihew them to the King, or 
recite them’to him; and there were fome 
in Jf h'enxh, fome in Greek, and fome in 
Evglifl.\ and other Languages, xvhereupon 
the King caufed a Book to be made, 
which declared how the Science was full 
invented, and the Utility thereof, which 
Book he commanded to be read, and; 
plainly declared, when any Man was to 
be made a Mafon that he might fully un- 
derftand what Articles, Rules and Orders 
he was obliged to obferve ; and from that 
time unto this Day Mdfotiry, hath been 
much rcfpciSted and preferved, and divers 
new Articles have been added to the faid 
Charge; by good Advice and Confcnt of ' 
the Matters and Fellows. 


B 2 I’unp 


( ** ) 

' gQCSOQQOC-SQQ ^&OQ^pp^^y- bQO 

Tunc Units ex Senior this beniat Hbmm 
till qui Injurandum reddat & pen at 
Manum in iibro tel fttprd libfum dam 
Jrticulus & Precept a fibi legentur. 



Saying thus by way of Exhortation, 


M Y loving and rcfpefted Friends and 
Brethren, 1 humbly befeech you, 
as you love your Soul's eternal Welfare, 
your Credit, and your Country’s Good, 
to be very Careful in Observation of thefe 
Articles that 1 am about to read to this 
Deponent ; for ye are obliged to perform 
them as well as he, fo hoping of your 
Care herein, I will, by Gods Grace, be- 
gin the Charge, 

I. I am to admonish you to honour God 
in his holy Church; that you uie no lie- 
’» refy, Schifm and Error in your TJnder- 
Bandings, or dilcredit Men’s Teachings. 

II. To 

y.y: ••• • - • 

14C : , • . 

1 ;’;' . - - - ' ' 






( *3 ) ! 

' II. To he- true to our Sovereign Lord 
the Kingy his, Heirs and lawful Succehors ; 
.committing no Treafon, Mifpriiion of 
Treafon, or Felony ; and if any Man ihali 
commit Treafon that you know of, you 
fhall forthwith give Notice thereof to his 
Majcfty, his Privy Counfeilors, or ibme 
other Perfon that hath Commifllon to en¬ 
quire thereof. 

III. You fhall be true to your Fellows 
and Brethren of the Science of Mafonry j 
and do unto them as you would be done 
unto. 

TV. You {'hall keep Secret the obfeure 
and intricate Parts of the Science, not 
difclofing them to any but inch as fhidy 
and life the fame. 

V. You fhall do your Work truly and 
faithfully, endeavouring the Profit and 
Advantage of him that is Owner of the 
faid Work, 

VI. You fhall call Mafons your Fel¬ 
lows and Brethren, without Addition of 
Knaves, or other bad Language. 


VII. You 


{ *4 ) 

VII. You fhall not take your Neigh¬ 
bours Wife Wiliinoufly, nor his Daughter,' 
nor his Maid or his Servant, to ufe un¬ 
godly. 

VIII. You fhall not carnally lye with 
any Woman that is belonging to the Houfe 
where you are at Table. 

IX. You fhall truly pay for your Meat 
and Drink, where you are at Table. 

X. You fhall not undertake any Man’s 
Work, knowing yourfelf unable or inex¬ 
pert to perform and effed the fame, that 
no Difcredjt or Afperfion may be imputed 
to the Science, or the Lord or Owner of 
the faid Work be any wife prejudic’d. 

/ XI. You fhall not take any Work to 
do at exceffive or unreafonable Rates, 
to deceive the Owner thereof, but fo as 
he may be truly and faithfully ferv’d with 
his own Goods. 

/ 

XII. You fhall fo take your Work, that 
thereby you may live honeftly, and pay 
your Fellows the Wages,as the Science 
doth - require. 

XIII. You/ 





jflll. You fhall not fupplant any of 
your Fellows of their Work, (that is to 
lay) if he or any of them hath or have 
taken any Work upon him or them, or he 
or they hand Maher or Matters of any 
Lord or Owners Work, that you fhall 
not put him or them out from the laid 
Work, altho' you perceive him or them 
unable to finifh the fame. 

XIV. You fhall not take any Apprentice 
to ferve you in the faid Science of Ma- 
fonry^ under the Term of Seven Years,* 
nor any but fuch as are defeended of 
good and honeft Parentage, that no Scan¬ 
dal may imputed to the laid Science of 
Mafonry . 

XV. You fhall not take upon you to 
make any one Mafon , without the Privity 
or Confent of fix, or five at leaft of your 
Fellows, and not but fuch as is Freeborn, 
and whofe Parents live in good Fame and 
Name, and that hath his right and per¬ 
fect Limbs, and able of Body to attend 
the faid Science. 


XVI* You 


( 16) 

XVI. You fhall not pay any of your 
Fellows more Money than he or they 
have deferv’d, that you be not deceiv’d 
by flight or falfc Working, and the Owner 
thereof much wrong’d. 

XVII. You fhall not flarider any of 
your Fellows behind their Backs, to im¬ 
pair their Temporal Eflate or good 
Name. 

XVIII. You fhall not, tvitliout very, 
urgent Caufe, anfwer your Fellow dog¬ 
gedly or ungodly, but as becomes a lo¬ 
ving Brother in the faid Science. 

XIX. You fhall duly reverence, your 
Fellows, that the Bond of Charity and 
mutual Love may continue ftedfaft and 
Sable amongft you, 

XX. You fhall not (except in Cbrift * 
mas time) ufe any lawlefs Games, as 
Bice, Cards, or fuch like. 

XXI. You fhall not frequent any Houfes 
of Bawdery, or be a Pander to any of 
your Fellows or others, which will be 
a great Scandal to the Science, 



( l 7 ) 


XXII. You fl ail not go out to drink 
by Night, or • if Occalion happen that 
you mvft go, you fliall not flay paft 
Eight of the Ciock, having feme of 
your Fellows, or one at the leaft, to 
bear you Witnefs of the honeft. Place you 
were in, and your good Behaviour, to 
avoid Scandal. 


XXIII. You fliall come to the Yearly 
Aflembly, if you know where it is kept, 
being within Ten Miles of the Place of 
your Abode, fubmitting your felt’ to the 
Cenfure of your Fellows, wherein you 

have.to make fatisfa&ion, 

or eife to defend by Order of the King’s 
Laws. 


XXIV. You fliall not make any Mould, 
Square, or Rule to mould Stones withal, 
but fuch as are allowed by the Fra¬ 
ternity. V 


XXV. You fliall fet Strangers at Work, 
having Employment for them, at leaft a 
fortnight, and pay them their Wages 
truly, and if you want Work for them, 
then you fliall relieve them with Money to 
■ , C defray 




( i8) 

defray their reafonable Charges to the 
next Lodge. 

XXVI. You fhall, truly attend youf 
Work, and truly end the fame, whether 
it be Task or Journey-Work, if you 
may have the Payment and Wages ac¬ 
cording to your Agreement made with the 
Mafter or Owner thereof. 

All thefe Articles and Charge, which 
I have now read unto you, you Iball 
well and truly obferve, perform and 
keep to the beft of your Power, 
and Knowledge, So help you God, 
and the true and holy Contents of 
this Book. 

mojeofcer 3} A. B. do pere 
in tpe fence of ©00 Sllmigptp, 
anD of mp Mows ant> 26 jctt)ren 
Here parents pjoimfc mb Declare, 
HTpat 3 will not at anp %\m 
Hereafter bp anp act o? Circum- 
itance wpatfoeDer, Directly 0; m- 
Dircctip, pubitflj, tw’coper, repeal 
0; mafee Known anp of tpefe Se¬ 
crets, 


mm 





3k » ' ■ 




'’Cv 

fa'M 


n->'; >. :: * »£*£ 


< *o ) 



This Charge belongeth io Jj> 



Imprimis . O U fitali truly ho* 



D.oirr God, and his holy 


Church, the King, your Matter, and 
Dame; you Jliail not abf'nt yomfelt, 
but with the Licence of cue or both 
of thorn, from their Service, by Day or 
Night. ' 

II. You ih all not Purloyn or Steal, 
or be Pnvy or accefl&ry to the Purlpyning 
or Stealing to the Value of Sixpence 
from them or either of them* 

IIL You fnall not commit Adultery 
or Fornication in the Boufe of your 
jSlalt- 'r, with, his Wife* Daughter ox 
Mai<L‘ • 




(■«■) 

IV. Yon ihall not difclofe your Ma¬ 
iler s or Dame’s Secrets or Councils, which 
they have reported unto you,' or what ts 
to be concealed, fpoken or done within 
the Privities of their Houfe, by them* or . 


eithi 

/kv 


oi them, o:; 


hv 


an' 


Free-Ma- 


V. You fhail not maintain any dlfo 
hodiciit Argument with your Midler, 
Dame, or any Frse-AIafon. 

VL You {ball reverently behave your 
felf towards all Frcc-Mafons , ufing nei¬ 
ther Cards, Dice, or any other unlaw¬ 
ful Games, Chrijhnas Time except¬ 
ed* 

VII. You fhail not haunt, or fre¬ 
quent any Taverns or Ale-houfes , 
or fo much as go into any of them, 
except it be upon your Mailer or your 
Dame, their or any of their Af¬ 
fairs, or with their or the one of their 
Confents. 

VIII. You {hall n8t commit Adultery 
or Fornication in any Man’s ‘Houfe, 

* where 


- . ij: 'V . ' v ’- 

■ ■ . V " • 



4 .- 

( 22 ) 

where you ftall be at Table or at 
Work. 

IX. You flhali not marry, or contract 
yomfelf to any Woman during your 
Apprenticefhip. 

X. You lhall not ileal any Man’s Goods, 
but efppcially your Mailer’s, or any of 
his Fellow Mafons , nor fuffer any to 
ftcal their Goods, but ihall hinder the 
Felon, if you can ; and if you cannot, 
then you ihail acquaint the faid Mailer and 
his Fellows prefently. 




Addi -p 



i ay) 



Additional Orders and Conjli- 
tutions made and agreed up¬ 
on at a General Ajfembly 

held at -- on the 

Eighth Day of December, 

1663. 


I. noPerfon, of what Degree 

JL foever 3 be accepted a Free - 
Mafon 5 unlefs he fhall have a Lodge 
of five Free-Mafons at the ieaft, where¬ 
of one to be a Matter or Warden of. 
that Limit or Divifion where fuch Lodge 
ihall be kept, and another to be a 
Workman of the Trade of Free-Ma v 
fvnry. 

_ II. That no Pcrfon hereafter fhall 
be accepted a Free~M<[)n y but fuck as 

are 



. ■ • v( >4/ / - ' 

are of able Body., koneft Parentage, good 
Reputation', and Obfervers of the Laws 

of, the Land, 

III. That no Perfon hereafter, which 
fhali be accepted a Freer Mafon , (hall be 
admitted into any Lodge, or Aifembiy, 
until he kith brought a Certificate of 
the Time and Place of his Acception, 
from the Lodge that accepted him, un¬ 
to the Mailer of that Limit and Divi- 
fion, where fuch Lodge was kept. 
Which laid Matter fhali enroll the fame 
on Parchment in a Roll to be kept for 
that Purpofe, and give an Account of 
all fuch Acceptions, at every General 
Aifcmbly. 

• * 

IV. That every Perfon, who is now 
a Pree~Mafon> fhali bring to the Matter 
a Note of the Time of his Acception, 
to the end the fame may /be enrolled 
in fuch Priority of Place, as the Perfon 
deferves, and to the end the whole Com¬ 
pany and Fellows may the better know 
each other. 

V. That for the future the faid So¬ 
ciety, Company and Fraternity of Free- 

_ Mafcns* 


(• 3 ) 

Mafms , fliall be regulated and governed 
By one Mafter, and as many Wardens as 
the faid Company fhall think fit to 
chufe at every Yearly General Affem- 
bly, , 

* 

VI. That no Perfon Stall be accepted 
a Frec-Mafon , unlefs lie be One and 
TiVenty Years Old, or more, 

VII. That no Perfon hereafter be ac* 
cepted a Free-Mafon> or know the Se- 
c*ets of the faid Society, until he Stall 
have firft taken the Oath of Secrecy here 
following, viz. 

J, A. B, fro l)m in defence of 
c 5 ofr 2 ilmic$tp,ani! ofrap jftllQtbs 
anfr ySufyxm [jm picfent, p?omife 
ant? Off la re, IHiat J> tfrill not at 
anp %im hereafter bp anp M 0? 
Circumftancc tbtiatfocbct, frircctip 
a: inDircctlp, piibliitj, frtfcofcer, re- 
bcal 0; mafit KnoErn anp of ttir- 
ft &cctit0, 0; Couit' 

‘cife 








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